X Games Sydney was super rad even if the time difference didn’t allow me to join in live. I was supposed to have this up before X Games Aspen, but it’s been a busy couple of months. In any case, enjoy this look-back at the inaugural Australian X Games event.

Best Female Athlete – Mariah Duran (Skate)
Mariah Duran had an awesome year in 2018, and it’s been a long time coming. She showed that there was more than luck involved in her Minneapolis win by upping the ante and nailing all her tricks.

Best Male Athlete – Tom Pages (Moto-X)
Like Mariah, Tom Pages was out to prove that his victory in Minneapolis wasn’t a fluke. He overcame a quickly deteriorating course and a crash in his first run to throw down his signature mind-blowing tricks, plus a no-handed double backflip, to get his second gold.

Newcomer to Watch – Dawid Godziek (BMX)
Another individual who conquered a muddy course was BMX Dirt’s Dawid Godziek. While others put down a safety run to ensure a top spot, Dawid hucked it huge and became the first Polish athlete to medal and win at X Games. (more…)

Friday was jam-packed with events, and I got Floor Access too. Unfortunately, I had forgotten when access started, and the ticket didn’t say when. One volunteer said I could go down in the morning so that’s what I did. Then I got kicked out of one area, forbidden from another, and then invited in the media platform behind the photographers for a portion of the Women’s Skateboard Street Qualifier.

Women’s Skateboard Street Qualifier

The skaters seemed really chill even if it was a tight competition for the final qualifying spots.

Nanaka Fujisawa did really well for a newcomer (and a young’un).

Mariah Duran was ON. Both of her qualifying runs were among the highest scoring.

Then there’s Alexis Sablone, whom you can count on for hitting some of the biggest tricks.

Being on the floor was too nerve-wracking so I decided to head back up for to join my parents to watch BMX Dirt Qualifiers. Unfortunately, all the doors look the same, and I got lost, wound up where all the athletes were, and then finally found another elevator with some VIPs. As a result, I missed a chunk of the BMX Dirt Qualifiers but I caught the second runs.

BMX Dirt Qualifiers

Everybody was pulling out all the stops. Who was going to enter the final kept changing up to the very end it seemed, and some former gold medalists like Ryan Nyquist and Kevin Peraza didn’t make it.You can always count on Kevin for great extension.

When did cash rolls and tailwhip backflips become staples?

My mom knows nothing about action sports or how scoring works for any event, but she was very impressed with Brian Fox’s first run.

Dawid Godziek was a name I wasn’t familiar with, but I’m gonna remember it how huge he went.

Since we had to get home by Sunday night, I was incredibly grateful that my parents let me check out Big Air Doubles before heading out. Initially I was envisioning something like Skate Doubles from a few years back, but that didn’t seem like a safe idea. The event wound up being basically Big Air with alternating BMX and skateboarding. It was still a lot of fun to watch (Big Air always is), and the teamwork aspect did make the athletes think about their runs a little differently.

Big Air Doubles

I loved the idea of bringing in two different disciplines. Not only did the athletes become motivated in a new way, it also helped dispel the idea that some sort of rivalry inherently existed between skaters and BMXers.

What would the teams have been like had the athletes been allowed to choose. Also who knew whom before this event?

The best spot to be was righty under the gap because I could see tricks over it and on the quarterpipe (the crowd was thinner). Plus it was the high-five zone.

Can I just say props to all the athletes for coming by to give high fives instead of taking the golf carts? They didn’t have to spend the energy to do so, and that made all of us even more stoked.

Bob Burnquist and Elliot Sloan were so on point. I was so stoked to have captured Bob taking his foot off during his switch ollie.

The skaters had a lot of early successes, but then the BMXers started busting out huge tricks.

My mom said that my dad and I appeared on TV, but I didn’t see us during the replay.

Steve McCann has a very frightening crash—the worst I saw over the weekend. He wound up in the hospital but later posted on Instagram that he was okay and pretty stoked on getting silver thanks to a previous run.

Jake Brown wasn’t having much luck over the weekend in terms of landing tricks. He gave it his all though.

Bob and Morgan Wade, a.k.a. “Team X-Ray”, chose to sit out their last runs. Despite what we learned from previous contests, it was probably the best. Morgan hit his knee hard, and even if he didn’t look it all weekend, Bob did break his arm. They both were in good spirits though and even traded equipment.

After the competition, my dad and I went to see if the Moto Pits were open. Unfortunately the riders were getting ready for Best Whip and Quarter Pipe so they closed off the area. We passed by the MegaRamp on our way out and saw several of the athletes still hanging around for autographs and photos. I thought that was really rad. I was able to get photos with Bob, Morgan, and Colton Satterfield (flash was off so I couldn’t tell when my dad pressed the shutter, hence me looking awkward). Since I was one of the last people, I didn’t get to chat very much, but Morgan said his knee would be okay. I just missed Tom Schaar, as he dashed away on his skateboard, leaving his mom behind to carry the luggage. Teens will be teens.

My first X Games experience was a dream come true. Even if I didn’t get to do all the things I planned, the unexpected moments—namely the athlete interactions— made up for that. I’ve covered most of my complaints/things to note if you go, but I’ll add that the food situation sucked for vegetarians. Maybe the Clubhouse Café had more options, but the stalls and trucks did not. Another annoyance was that the people who sold drinks often shouted over the announcers and standing in the way of the ramp. I appreciated the water refill stations though. They were always full so you didn’t have to buy water if you brought your own bottle.

Six out of my thirteen predictions were right, which isn’t that great but we had some surprises. I’m going to wrap things up with my tradition of the “eXponential Awards”, and with those, I’ll include the events I wasn’t able to catch. It’s been really fun recapping this amazing experience. I’m already planning for next year and would love to have travel buddies (I think my parents are done despite the fun they had).

I was probably the only person not stoked about Metallica playing Saturday night. It’s not that I don’t like them, but they should not be your sole reason for going to the X Games. Although I have no problem with casual action sports fans or non-fans coming into the scene with an open mind, I do take issue with people talking loudly in the middle of an event or taking the good seats because James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett are playing the national anthem, only to leave before we even get to the finals. Plus there were so many people smoking in areas where it was not allowed. Although the rude individuals who didn’t care about rules or action sports made me grumpy, I still had a great full day of X Games.

RallyCar Racing

So much dust! VIP probably got it the worst because they were right at the first turn. The visibility was so bad that drivers were hitting each other and even missing the jump.

I almost want to agree with my mom about how watching this on TV would be better because you’re not choking on dirt and can see the carnage up close. However, it’s not as exciting. Also I never fully understood the joker until I saw how it affect all the different positions. TV focuses on a few cars and areas so you don’t get the big picture of the strategy that goes into rally.

Ken Block and Travis Pastrana had really bad luck. So did Patrick Sandell. I felt for him because he fixed whatever was leaking in his car, but they wouldn’t let him back on the track due to broadcast time limits. I thought that was a pretty lame reason.

Scott Speed got reckless at the end of the final, but he was gonna finish first so we don’t need a bumper anymore, right?